In many situations, it is known to be desirable to remove soil from its current location and to spread the removed soil so that it does not interfere with future operations on the land. An example is where ditches are made to drain standing water from ponds on agricultural lands.
A typically ditch forming implement includes a frame arranged to be towed across the ground in a forward working direction by a tractor and which supports a impeller disc thereon for rotation about an impeller axis oriented generally in the forward working direction. A plurality of paddles on the impeller disc serve to either cut soil by directly engaging the ground or receive soil which has already been cut by a suitable ground engaging blade ahead of the disc such that the cut soil is spread laterally to one side of the implement by the spinning of the impeller disc.
Examples of various ditching implements of are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,536,140 and 7,627,964 both by Vaags et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,903 by Erickson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,610 by Liebrecht Jr; U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,761 by Nadeau et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,826 by Rogers. In each instance, the impeller disc is driven by a drive shaft that communicates between a power take-off of the working vehicle, and a gearbox on the implement frame which in turn is connected to the impeller disc. The gearbox arrangement is typically complex and costly to manufacture, and can be subject to costly repair in the event that the implement disc becomes jammed by debris.